glass houses

Finally, the sun is back out! There were some gloomy-looking days back there, with lots of clouds and sudden cold. Finally, things are falling into place again, and the nights don't seem quite so harsh. I still sleep in my sleeping bag and a wool blanket. But today, the sun was bright and we went on a pretty walk through a fancy part of town. The resentment of the past few days (mostly due to the living/working situation and feeling trapped in the OAX) has worn off. I've been shooting some expired 120 mm slide film--the fact that it's expired makes the results even less predictable than usual. Some are good, some are bad, some old ones I just got back are making me a little nostalgic, like this one:

But things have been okay, the delegation (which I wasn't working on) just got done with what seems like a lot of success, and consequently we had a busy weekend of going out and ended up throwing a spur-of-the-moment dinner party. We spent the last day of the delegation at a really pretty place off Reforma, a convent for ailing nuns:

We found a new market, the 20 de Noviembre market (which seems like an offshoot of Juarez, but so, so much better), where they mostly sell prepared food and juice (I got a chocolate-banana licuado). Anyway, after I got grumpy because I was hungry and pressured Tony into said licuado spot we managed to plan a dinner for eight and came off with this:

It was pretty tasty. I can't stop making oven fries. The other day I made seitan jambalaya (oh nutritional yeast, your wonders never cease) and ate most of it, too. So, yeah, potatoes and rice--I am going to gain a hundred pounds and enjoy every minute of it. The dinner party turned into a Youtube party, where we watched:

That song is sweet enough on its own, but the video is really great.

Then if you're familiar with the DC area, you might enjoy:

And then of course, to tie things up, there was:

Yesterday was a great day, after all that stuff. We rested up and went to the train station market in the afternoon, the circus was back in town! Mostly they just did acrobatic things and slow-motion fight moves, but it was a lot of fun. (Photos forthcoming--ah, film delay.) Then, Tony and I ran some errands in town and I ate esquites for the first time! Esquites are kernels of white corn cooked with epazote, and served in a styrofoam cup with mayonnaise, cheese, lime juice, and chili pepper. I had been scared for a long time. Now, my love of corn products is no secret, but mostly I was afraid of all that crap they pile on there (how does that shit not curdle?!), but it was a really weirdly satisfying food. Then we had gelato and came home and watched The Hills. All in all, I'd call it a successful weekend.

The week is exciting, getting stuff finalized for a delegation and maybe being able to fill the time in ways that are better than watching incessant amounts of MTV (even though, let's be honest, it is pretty satisfying. Especially now that we play "the game"--drawing parallels between those girls' lives and our own: "So like, when LC has to go to Italy for work, it's like when they send us to Chiapas on the bus. Right?" "So when LC and Whitney had to go to New York City for one day to work a fashion show, it's just like when Betty had to go to Mexico City for one day to fix our visas. Right?"). I guess I play that game, sometimes I play a "Poeta Garcia Madero" game, sometimes I just stare at people, and when I am in a particularly bad mood I play "Holden Caulfield", which is sort of a good game in that it will get you through bad times, but it makes strangers think you are crazy, which can be good or bad. I play that game at the supermarket a lot.

Which reminds me!

I found a "big" Soriana (this weekend I found out there is actually a bigger Soriana somewhere else) but basically I've had this theory that somewhere in Oaxaca there is a gigantic strip mall with a big-box grocery store wherein all my dreams will come true: pie tins, cheeses (not just the balls of Oaxaca cheese or "tipo Manchego" (hence all the vegan mac-making)), razors, ketchup, canned beans that don't just come in "black" and "Mexican-type", you know, normal stuff. Well, the one that I found had some of that stuff! It was exciting!

Happy monday, folks! Now it's on to yoga class and vegan mac and cheese adventure, part 2!